Fluid36

Before I ask my questions I just want to thank everyone on these boards for the help they provide,

Background
My wife and myself currently live in the UK and have been married for 2 years / living together for 5 years, we have already been through the UK spousal Visa process and the Indefinate Leave to Remain process for the Uk so I am familiar with the visa application and evidence required from a UK perspective. We have now decided to move to Australia and due to me being a NZ citizen who was not living in Australia as of February 2001 the best avenue for us is the (New Zealand Citizen Family Relationship (Temporary) Visa (Subclass 461))

I just have a couple of questions on applying for this visa that I would greatly appreciate any help with.

1) We are planning on making the application from outside Australia and since we are planning on traveling around NZ for a few months on the way to living in Australia I was wondering if it was acceptable to make the application from NZ even though we have been living together in the UK?

2) Under the section for health checks etc I noticed that the UK is under the low risk set of countries and therefore with a temporary visa of this nature it states no health checks needed. However whilst reading other posts I noticed that people from the UK have been undergoing health checks so was just wanting to clarify what the correct procedure is.

3) Evidence of relationship - I am assuming the evidence required is very similar to my spousal visa for the UK, ie common bills and letters to the same address etc, my question is what timeframe do we need to supply this evidence for (last 2 years etc)

Thanks a lot in advance for any help with my questions.

Mike

JAJ

Hi
Read the wiki article http://britishexpats.com/wiki/461_visa also it would be a good idea to get your British citizenship.


What would be the plan to get permanent residence in Australia - 461 is not a good visa for the long term.

1. Yes.

2. You will be asked to do whatever health/character checks are applicable.

3. Yes, but no specific timeframe if you're legally married. If not, 12 months.

Fluid36

Hi, thanks for the Reply.

Yes I have read the wiki thanks, very useful and in regards to permanent residence, we have not considered this yet, the only visa option for us at this stage is the 461 so we are concentrating on this at this stage.

I have been told by an advisor that medical checks are not required and only police checks for my wife so we will be looking into getting these done and underway. Has anyone had any experience with police checks in the UK and possible time frames.

Thanks in Advance.

JAJ

Might be worth considering it before you move. If you will never be able to get permanent residence then that is not ideal for the long term, it might be better to consider New Zealand instead.

Fluid36

Only plan on living in Aus for 3-4 years, not fussed about permanent residence.

Thanks

JAJ

In that case you really should make sure you get British citizenship, as opposed to abandoning your UK resident status.

Where do you intend to settle long term?

Fluid36

Thanks again for the reply,

Settle long term in NZ is the current plan but will be getting my British Citizenship as well in case we decide to return to this side of the world. Am also currently looking into possible options for visas to switch to for permananet residence in Australia in case we decide to stay. Nothing is set in concrete quite yet.